Lost and Found
by Pia O'Leary
Summary: Post Hogwarts DG one shot. She had never been the same. Ever since the day she’d lost her little boy, she’d been different. It was as if, in losing him, she lost a part of herself as well. Angsty with happy ending. Please read and review.


**Lost and Found**

_Draco looked down at Ginny, fighting down the growing feelings of guilt. It was his fault that she was like this. It was his fault that she was laying there, his hand clutched tightly in hers, her teeth clenched, experiencing the worst pain she'd ever felt in her entire life. Then, she sighed and relaxed back against him. He leaned down and pressed a kiss to her temple, saying, "You're doing great, Gin. Do you need anything?"_

_"I need to get this baby out of me, that's what I need." Ginny's voice wasn't annoyed or angry, just tired. She had already been in labor for 10 hours and she was completely exhausted. Ginny sighed and closed her eyes, leaning into Draco as she drifted off into a light sleep._

_"Draco?" He looked up to see Charlie sneak quietly into the room, closing the door soundlessly behind him. Draco was glad that they had managed to get a healer to come to their house, instead of going to St. Mungo's. He wanted to her to be as comfortable as possible; the master bedroom of Malfoy Manor was as comfortable as it was going to get. "How's it going?"_

_"Not so great," Draco whispered back. "She's completely worn out and they don't expect it to end for at least another few hours."_

_"How long has it been since you got some sleep?" Draco shrugged; Ginny had gone into labor sometime around 7, so the last time he'd sleep was … the night before._

_"A while."_

_"Why don't I stay with Ginny for a while? You can get some rest, maybe some coffee and something to eat." Charlie winced slightly as Ginny stirred, looking at him with half-lidded eyes._

_"Yes, go ahead, sweetheart. Charlie will stay with me."_

_"No, I'm fine. Go back to sleep, Gin. You're going to need your strength." Ginny, being too tired to protest slipped off into slumber just as Draco lightly kissed her forehead._

_"Don't look so unhappy, Draco. You're having a baby. This will be the happiest day of your life, next to your wedding day." Draco knew that Charlie spoke from experience, having had three boys and a girl of his own, despite the strong conviction that the Weasley clan held that he'd never get married, let alone have kids._

_"How am I supposed to be happy when my wife is in so much pain?" Draco said, almost in a growl. "Stupid healers can't manage a bloody pain-dampening spell."_

_Charlie laughed softly. "It seems like it's bothering you more than its bothering Ginny. Or am I mistaken?"_

_"You know Ginny … she'll never ask anyone for help if she can manage, she'd rather do things on her own. She doesn't want to be a bother to anyone." Draco smiled slightly as he ran his hands through Ginny's hair, smoothing it away from her damp forehead. Charlie and Draco lapsed into quiet, comfortable conversation. Charlie was desperately trying to keep Draco's mind off of Ginny's pain._

_Three and a half hours later, Draco heard the words he had been praying to hear for the past 14 hours. "Just one more push, Ginny." Draco tightened his grip around Ginny's waist as she tensed up for one final effort. Within mere moments, Ginny had relaxed back against him and the room was filled with the sounds of a baby's wailing. His baby._

_"Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Malfoy. You have a healthy baby boy." As soon as the beautiful baby was laid in his arms, Draco melted, absolutely melted. All his guilt for Ginny's pain, all his doubts, all the second-guessing he had done. Gone, completely. And Ginny, by the miracle that was motherhood, had completely forgotten all of the pain she had been in only minutes prior._

_Draco handed his son off to Ginny, sitting down next to her so he could continue to gaze at the perfect little child that was his. He wrapped an arm around his wife and kissed her temple, unable to stop the grin that spread across his face._

Motherhood had changed Ginny completely … changed her for the better. She developed an extremely strong bond with her only child from the moment he was laid in her arms. Literally, Lucas and Draco made up her entire life from that moment on.

_"Ah, there are my two favorite boys." Ginny smiled warmly, laughing a moment later when Lucas slapped the water and drenched Draco. Draco was giving him a bath, trying to let Ginny have some time to herself.  
_

_"What happened to your idea for a nice, long, bubble bath?" Draco growled slightly as Lucas reached up and yanked, rather forcefully, on a lock of his flaxen-colored hair.  
_

_"I took a short, hot shower instead. Besides, it looks like you need some help." She laughed again as Draco looked up at her sheepishly and Lucas gave them both a tooth-less grin.  
_

_An hour later found Ginny lying on the couch; book in her hand, and Lucas resting on her stomach. He had fallen asleep moments earlier, his steady breathing having an extremely calming effect on his mother. Draco came up behind her and started to twirl an errant curl around his finger, smiling warmly at the perfect picture his wife and son had created. There was no place in the world he'd rather be than right there at that moment and the same could be said for Ginny._

She had never been the same. Ever since the day she'd lost her little boy, she'd been different. It was as if, in losing Lucas, she lost a part of herself as well. But Draco fully understood, he always had. Because he, too, had lost a part of himself when his son was taken. It was almost two and a half years ago, now. Yet, he'd remember everything about that day down to the most miniscule detail to the day he died.

_Ginny had left her and Draco's 7-year-old son with Mrs. Weasley for the day, as she and Hermione had shopping to do. Now that the war was finally over, she and Ron could get married. It had ended only a month or two before, but everything was finally returning to normalcy._

_They were just about to enter yet another bridal shop, in their search for the perfect dress when Harry came running up to them. "There was … an attack … on The … Burrow!" he managed, his breathing heavy as he had been running all over Diagon Alley in search of Ginny and Hermione._

_Without a word Ginny disapparated. She appeared in the living room of The Burrow with a pale look on her face. Her mother's strong arms immediately engulfed her. As soon as Molly let her go, she went about the room hugging her brothers and, finally, Draco._

_"Everyone's okay, then?" No one answered her. Her heart suddenly started beating very fast as she mentally counted heads. No … there was one missing. Where was he! "Where is he! Where's Lucas!"_

_"Ginny … they took him," came the soft reply from Ron._

_The world was crashing down on Ginny. Her entire world had just been crushed. She sank to the ground, already sobbing uncontrollably. Draco was at her side in seconds, his arms wrapped tightly around her. She pounded her fists weakly on his chest in a futile attempt to push him away, before simply sinking into him and allowing him to rock her back and forth gently._

_No one knew what to do. No one except Draco. He quickly picked her up, bride style, and strode over to the fireplace. With a flash of green flames they were back in Malfoy Manor._

It had taken a while for her to cry herself to sleep that night, but Draco hadn't slept at all. He didn't sleep for days after and, when he finally did, it was only because his mother-in-law had force-fed him some dreamless sleep potion. Yet, he found that he didn't care so much for his own happiness as he used to. It just didn't seem to matter anymore. All he wanted was for his son to be safe in his arms again and for his wife to be happy.

But, it had been two and a half years and she was still almost as miserable as the day he'd been kidnapped. Her family didn't know it, but he did. Contrary to popular belief, Ginny was a master of manipulation. She knew exactly what to do to get her family to think that she had started to move on with her life, to get over what had happened. Not to the point that they thought she was giving up, but they still thought she was relatively happy, considering the circumstances.

They had never been more wrong in their lives. But that was the way Ginny preferred it; she didn't want her family to have to see her like that. Broken, tired, completely unhappy, depressed. It was so contrary to her personality.

It hadn't taken Draco all that long to figure it out; a day or two tops and he had broken through her little act.

_"Oh, Draco, I'm sorry. I didn't know you were home yet." Ginny turned away, trying to hide her tear-streaked face from her husband. He had almost started to believe that she was actually taking things quite well … almost being the key word._

_"Gin … what's … come over here." She didn't look up or even move towards Draco, who was sitting on the chaise lounge in front of the fire in the sitting room attached to their bedroom. "Ginny … please?" She looked up then; it was a truly rare occasion that Draco Malfoy actually said the word 'please'. She quickly strode over to where he was sitting, reaching down to rake her fingers through his silky hair. He leaned into her touch slightly as her arm brushed his cheek. "Why are you doing this to yourself, Gin?"_

_"What do you mean?" Ginny avoided his eyes as he pulled her down to sit in front of him, between his legs. She snuggled closer to his warm, hard chest, which was pressing against her back._

_"You know what I mean, Ginny … we're going through this together. But you insist on shutting me out … why?"_

_"I don't know, Draco … I just can't believe he's gone. I can't believe they took my baby." Moments later, she dissolved into tears, melting against Draco's chest as he wrapped his arms around her, comforting her as best he knew how._

That's not to say that Draco had been dealing with his son's kidnapping all that much better. The worst part of the entire two years had been the day that Hermione and Ron had brought their own son to The Burrow to meet the whole family, Draco and Ginny included for the first time. Ginny had faked sick and, not wanting to get the baby sick, had stayed home. Draco would have thought it rather cruel that he had to go and she didn't, but he didn't even want to imagine what the experience would be like for her, so he didn't press the issue.

Nonetheless, it was going to be a rough afternoon.

_"Oh, Hermione! He's just perfect!" Hermione beamed at Fleur, Bill's wife._

_"Have you chosen a name yet dear?" Molly asked in a tone that could only belong to a grandmother._

_"Yes we have ………_

_The rest of the conversation was lost to Draco as Ron came over and laid a tiny, perfect little baby boy in his arms, smiling proudly. The child had curly brown hair and sparkling blue eyes. Eyes that reminded him too much of Lucas' for his own comfort. They were Ginny's eyes … Weasley eyes._

_"He's … adorable, Ron," was all Draco could manage to say, before carefully handing the baby back to his brother-in-law. It wasn't like a Malfoy to feel jealous … but Ron had everything that Draco wanted; a healthy son in his arms and a happy wife. Everything that Draco had__ before those bastards__ stole it away from him. Shaking his head to clear it of all the homicidal thoughts that were creeping into it, he mumbled some excuse and quickly disapparated._

Thoughts of his son, and having his son back home, safe and sound, invaded his thoughts from the moment he'd learned that Lucas had been kidnapped. He damned the few Death Eaters that had managed to slip through Auror fingers countless times. It was rare that he didn't think of the little boy that resembled him so closely on an hourly basis. And if he wasn't thinking about Lucas, he was worrying about Ginny. It was a wonder he'd gotten any work done at all in the past two years.

But that was all about to change. Two hours ago, they had begun the extermination of the last sect of Death Eaters, having finally tracked them down. Now, he was standing in the small house, looking around at all the bodies. Bodies of the Death Eaters that had taken his son from him. Unsurprisingly, he'd had no qualms about killing them.

And there, in the farthest corner of the would-be-living room he was standing in, was a thin, lanky boy of about ten years old. He had the classic Malfoy hair – white-blonde – and the aristocratic features that so clearly mirrored his father's. Then there were his eyes. If there were any doubts as to his identity, they were quickly assuaged by one look at his eyes. A clear, sky-colored blue. Full of fear, but unmistakable nonetheless.

Draco stood there, staring at the son he hadn't seen in two and a half years. In a rare moment, he was actually speechless. But he was quickly shaken out of his reverie, when a timid voice said, "Da?"

"Oh gods, Lucas." Within seconds, Draco was kneeling on the floor in the corner and had his son enveloped in his strong arms, promising himself that he would never; ever let go of him again. "Lucas … Merlin!" In a strangely fatherly moment, Draco pulled back slightly and pressed a firm kiss to his son's forehead. Lucas clung tightly to Draco's robes, clearly not yet ready to let go. But that was okay, because Draco was hardly ready to let go of his son either.

"Where's Mum?" Lucas whispered, a while later, still maintaining his death-grip on Draco's robes.

"Find Ginny!" Draco shouted without a moment's hesitation. He stood there, hugging his son as tightly as he could without hurting him for a few more moments, before he heard a distinct _POP!_ It was followed not seconds later by a shriek and a few sobs, before he felt Ginny next to him, hugging both him and his son to her. He reached out and wrapped an arm around her, kissing her temple softly.

"Lucas … my baby … thank the gods!" he heard Ginny whisper as she pressed countless kisses to Lucas' head and face.

It wasn't until his brain started to register the strangled sobs that Ginny was emitting that he realized that he, too, was crying. He vaguely realized that the little blonde boy that was engulfed in his arms was also shaking with sobs.

As their family gathered around, no one disturbed them for a long time. They just couldn't bring themselves to disrupt them. Ginny was clinging to Lucas and Draco, Draco to Ginny and Lucas, and Lucas to his parents, as if it were the only thing keeping him sane. It was a picture they never thought they'd see.

So Charlie had been wrong after all. The day Lucas was born wasn't the happiest day of his life, nor his wedding. The happiest day of Draco Malfoy's life was the day he got his little boy back. He knew immediately that Ginny would be whole once more; never again that shell of a human being she had been for the past two and a half years. For what had been lost was now found.

**A/N:** I RP'ed it while we were looking for houses and I just had to write it down. Sorry if it sucks and for any glaring mistakes, I didn't have this beta'd. Please review! I'm considering doing more stories about Lucas Malfoy in the future, what do you think?


End file.
